


A Found Merman

by Takara_Phoenix



Series: Phoe's Shadowhunters Prompts [43]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: (everything is show-canon aside from Jace), Canon Divergent, Cuddles, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Merman Jace Wayland, Multi, Polyamory, Slash, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 03:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15742836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: When Alec and the others finally take down Valentine, they free werewolves, warlocks – and one merman named Jace, Valentine's oldest experiment, a boy he stole after his birth. Trying to prevent him from being tested by the Clave, Alec and Magnus hide him at the loft for now.





	A Found Merman

Shadowhunters || Malace || Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles – A Found Merman || Malace || Shadowhunters

Title: Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles – A Found Merman

Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments

Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: polyamory (m/m/m), merman!Jace, fluff, hurt/comfort, cuddles

Main Pairing: Magnus/Alec/Jace

Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan Christopher 'Jace' Herondale, Magnus Bane, Alexander Gideon 'Alec' Lightwood

Summary: Prompt: "I'm scared." - "You don't have to be; not as long as I'm here." for Malace.

When Alec and the others finally take down Valentine, they free werewolves, warlocks – and one merman named Jace, Valentine's oldest experiment, a boy he stole after his birth. Trying to prevent him from being tested by the Clave, Alec and Magnus hide him at the loft for now.

**Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles**

_A Found Merman_

Jace tilted his head as he wandered the loft.

He had been staying here for two weeks now. The tall, dark, handsome one, the Shadowhunter, he had brought him here. Had said he wanted to _protect_ Jace. Not that Jace was used to that. But he said, if the Clave knew that Valentine had been experimenting on a merman, then Jace would only be poked and prodded more.

They had released most captives. The warlocks and werewolves. Not Jace though. Because Jace had been _raised_ by Valentine. He could not just be released to the sea, he had no idea how it even _worked_. And if the Clave learned of him, they would want to see what exactly Valentine _achieved_.

So the tall, dark, handsome one's mate – tall, dark, gorgeous warlock – had suggested to take him in for a while. To learn more about Jace, see if they could help him.

It had been two weeks and neither of them had _hurt_ Jace.

They were kind. The tall, dark, handsome one was called Alec. The tall, dark, gorgeous one was called Magnus. And both of them were _kind_ to Jace.

Jace wasn't used to experiencing kindness.

Magnus had created a very large tank. Larger than the one Valentine had kept him in on board of the ship. Before that, at the mansion, Jace had had more… freedom. Or more allusion to freedom at least. Valentine had always tricked Jace into thinking he was a good man, somehow. That Jace could be _grateful_ to be with Valentine.

Magnus had made him a very pretty tank and Jace could freely flap his tail, swim around. Alec would always stand in the doorway, watching him in awe. Jace was pretty sure that the Shadowhunter was fascinated by Jace's tail.

It _was_ a very impressive tail, if he may say so himself. Strong, golden, with long fins.

"What are you going to do with me?", asked Jace.

Alec yelped in surprise. He was sitting on the couch, had thought he was alone. When he turned around, his eyes widened and his cheeks heated up.

Jace. Walking. On _two legs_. Also, Jace _naked_.

Jace tilted his head, running his fingers over everything they could touch as he walked around the living room, looking at all the curious items Magnus owned.

"I… I… you… you…", muttered Alec, brain not entirely up to speed.

Jace was naked. His muscular back was facing Alec - and so was his heart-shaped, firm-looking ass. Alec didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help it.

Jace turned toward him, tilting his head in the other direction, looking confused.

And still being _very much naked_.

"What?", asked Jace confused, fidgeting with Alec's stele curiously.

"You're _naked_ ", pointed Alec out, gesturing toward Jace's crotch and blushing brightly.

Jace blinked a couple of times and looked down. "Yeah, this is really... annoying. How do you _walk_? All that... dangling between the legs is super uncomfortable and awkward."

Alec groaned and covered his face with his hands when Jace planted his feet apart and shook his hips, watching his own cock in frustration. This merman was going to _kill Alec_. Like Jace had not been temptation enough with that beautiful golden tail of his, long and sleek and elegant, muscular, well-defined chest and golden-blonde hair on his head to match his tail.

"Part of me is really tempted to ask, but the decent part of me...", muttered Alec beneath his breath.

"It retreats", offered Jace, one eyebrow raised. "And only extends when _needed_. Human design is very highly impractical. It's... so _soft_ and it leaves you really vulnerable, you know. Super impractical. And it _really_ makes walking harder than it has to be."

Alec shook his head, taking deep breaths and trying not to look directly at Jace. Thankfully, he was saved by Magnus walking into the living room. The warlock had still been asleep, which was why Alec had been so surprised to hear anyone sneaking up on him in the living room. Magnus was not usually one to get up early, at least not willingly so. And he didn't look willing now either, a glare on his face, as though he was ready to give Alec a piece of his mind about being so loud in the morning. Though the chiding seemed forgotten and his annoyance was replaced with surprise when he laid eyes on Jace. Magnus stared, for a couple long moments.

"Don't tell me a sea-witch came and stole his pretty voice", mused Magnus with a frown.

While Alec snorted in amusement, Jace just looked at the warlock with a blank face. "What?"

Chuckling, Magnus shook his head and stepped up to the merman. "Never mind, sweetheart. Here."

Magnus shed his fancy morning robe and laid it around Jace's shoulders, leaving Magnus in his boxers and Alec's shirt. Alec knew that Magnus mainly owned the fancy robes to cover up that he actually enjoyed casual clothes too at home, so in case of uninvited early or late visitors, he could throw on one of his robes and look as fancy as he did during official hours. Alec found it kind of cute. He _also_ found Magnus wearing Alec's clothes cute. And, apparently, Jace wearing Magnus', because the blonde merman wearing the purple silken robes where the sleeves nearly covered his finger-tips was absolutely endearing. Especially when Jace tilted his head in confusion.

"Sweetheart, humans don't walk around _naked_ ", chuckled Magnus as he tied the robes. "You know that. You've been around Valentine and his underlings and captives."

"Well. Yes. But... _I_ don't wear clothes", frowned Jace uncomfortably, shifting around.

"But you can't walk around naked either", chuckled Magnus fondly. "Now come, sit."

He navigated Jace to sit next to Alec on the couch, while Jace was still fidgeting with the robes, clearly feeling confined and uncomfortable in them. Which was probably understandable, considering he had never worn clothes before. Alec's face was _still_ red.

"You normally also don't have legs", muttered Alec after a moment. "I mean, how-"

"Fath... Valentine", offered Jace with a shrug, tilting his head. "Magic. Warlocks."

"Fascinating", whispered Magnus curiously, staring at Jace's legs.

"I have to return to salt-water. But I can stay outside for... a while", shrugged Jace. "And I wanted to talk to you. But waiting for one of you to come to my room is frustrating. So... I came to you."

"Which you haven't done before", noted Magnus, still staring at the blonde's feet.

Jace kept wiggling his toes and rotating his feet, swinging his legs back and forth. "Because I didn't know if I could trust you. You took me home with you but who was to say that you wouldn't just... do as fa... Valentine has done. Or worse. But it's been two weeks now and neither of you... has hurt me yet. So... So I don't think you're like him."

"We aren't", promised Alec seriously, resting a hand on top of Jace's and squeezing a little. "We genuinely want to _help_ you. We just... don't really know how."

"So I'll just... live with you until I'm old and gray?", asked Jace doubtfully.

Magnus laughed at that, patting Jace's knee. "Well, I thought you could live with us until I manage to get a hold of the mermaid queen and we could get you settled there. But if you can actually... walk on land, that gives us a couple more options. Depending on what _you_ want."

"I don't know what I want", shrugged Jace, frown deepening. "I... never actually had a _choice_."

"Well, now you do, sweetheart", offered Magnus with an encouraging smile. "And you can take as much time as you need. You can stay here and you'll be safe, as long as you need it."

Jace tilted his head to look up at Magnus with a small smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome", replied Magnus. "After all you've been through, you deserve some _kindness_."

Jace tilted his head doubtfully at that, watching the warlock. He deserved kindness, huh...?

/break\

Alec wasn't entirely sure what was worse. Having Jace walk around the loft naked in his human form, or having Jace swim around his tank in his room, with that beautiful golden-finned and scaled tale. He was absolutely _gorgeous_ either way.

Alec stood with with his arms crossed, leaning against the door-frame and watching Jace. Magnus' magic had allowed them a large tank inside the loft, easily the size of two rooms, with the glass-wall nearly all the way to the ceiling and a ladder leaning against it. It was nicely decorated (though Magnus being Magnus, he could not hold back on some teasing little additions one would find in a regular-sized fish tank). Jace seemed to enjoy it well enough. Then again, judging by the bathtub-sized tank Alec and Isabelle had freed Jace from, the boy would be enjoying anything large enough for him to _actually swim in_. Again, Alec grew angry. Angry that Valentine had abused this beautiful and sweet merman, experimented on him and tormented him since birth.

"You know this isn't a TV, right?", whispered Magnus into Alec's ear.

"Well, the program is very... alluring", offered Alec with a small grin, tilting his head to kiss Magnus properly. "Hey, babe. You're home early."

"Mh", grinned Magnus, resting his chin on Alec's shoulder to look at Jace. "You're right about the program thoguh, it's... _very_ nice to watch."

"You know, last week he asked us what will happen with him and... I don't feel like we have gotten any closer to an answer, mh?", grunted Alec with a worried frown.

"Not really", sighed Magnus with a frown. "I hope that we will find something that Jace... enjoys. I don't mind him staying with us, I rather... like him here, actually. But all he does is swim around or play with the kittens and... everything else in the house."

"Ye—eah he's not _playing_ with the cats", grunted Alec.

"Mh? What does that mean?", asked Magnus confused.

"...He's _hunting_ the cats. He thinks we're keeping... live-stock around", offered Alec.

" _What_?", screeched Magnus appalled.

"Mh? What happened?", asked Jace surprised, arms folded over the edge of the tank.

"You're hunting the cats for _food_?! We have a perfectly fine and perfectly full fridge!", exclaimed Magnus, staring at the golden-tailed merman.

Jace tilted his head confused, flapping his tail. "But we eat animals. We had pig last night. Deer. Cow. All kinds of fishes. We eat animals I've never seen before, but I trust you that we _can_. So what makes this animal _any_ different than any other animal we eat...? I don't get it."

Magnus opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before he made a completely frustrated sound. "Alexander, do something about the over-sized goldfish! I'm done!"

Blinking slowly, Jace watched the warlock storm off. "I don't understand what did I do wrong...?"

With a heavy sigh did Alec step up to the tank and gently caress Jace's cheek. "It's okay. Just... please don't try to eat one of the cats. Cats are friends, not food, okay?"

"Mh... Okay", nodded Jace slowly. "I'm sorry. I just... some things just don't make _sense_ to me. I lived my life in the basement of father's laboratory. He only taught me the basic, important things."

As always, Alec's eyes softened and there was sorrow in his expression as he looked at Jace. That wasn't what Jace was aiming for. He didn't need their _pity_. He just needed them to understand that he didn't mean to say or do certain things, he just didn't know better.

/break\

There was that endearing miserable sound again. Jace grinned, he really enjoyed that sound. And the face Alec made whenever he made said sound. It was cute. And technically, Jace knew he was being mean, or something. But it was so much fun, for one, and for another, he _really hated clothes_. It was so uncomfortable and the pants were the worst.

"Wha—at are you watching?", asked Jace and flopped down on the couch, leaning against Alec.

Once more, Alec made that miserable little sound, staring at Jace's thighs. The Shadowhunter was so adorable, it was ridiculous. Jace really understood why Magnus fell in love with the awkward, tall, yummy Shadowhunter. Then again, Jace also understood why Alec had fallen in love with the gorgeous, tempting, wicked warlock. They were both real catches.

"Uhm... movie", offered Alec, staring at Jace's six-pack.

"So much detail. Wow", chuckled Jace teasingly, snuggling up to the archer.

Reluctantly, Alec laid his arm around Jace's shoulder and pulled him closer. _After_ grabbing the blanket that was thrown over the backrest of the couch and covering at least Jace's lower half. There was a limit to how much temptation Alexander Lightwood could endure.

"So, you went out with us a couple of times. How... I mean, do you have any... plans?", asked Alec carefully after a while, looking down at the golden-blonde head against his chest.

"I don't know. I mean. Valentine taught me to fight. Wanted me to always be the best. And, I guess, if... there is a place on your team... I'd be useful... or something", shrugged Jace with a sigh. "I just never... had to think about what I want to do with my life. I never thought I'd be freed."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you", sighed Alec, feeling guilty.

"No. I mean, I get it. I keep imposing on you and your boyfriend", replied Jace and shook his head.

"You're not imposing. Magnus said you can stay as long as you need to and we both meant that. You've been through hell. You're safe here", stated Alec seriously.

Jace hummed and looked up at him from hooded eyes, before yawning. Half an hour later, when Magnus came home, Jace was deep asleep, tucked against Alec. Magnus smiled softly as he saw them. It wasn't rare; Jace who had spent all of his life raised in isolation was truly touch-starved and after the first time Magnus and Alec invited him into a hug, they noticed, so they offered him cuddles. Gently, Magnus brushed Jace's hair out of his face and then kissed Alec.

"Our little merman naked again, mh?", chuckled Magnus amused.

"Ye—es", groaned Alec frustrated. "I mean, I enjoy that he walks around the apartment and seeks us out, but... I mean, if he keeps walking around naked, I am going to jump him at one point."

He glared down accusingly at Jace, who was still peacefully asleep. Magnus laughed softly and sat down on Alec's other side, kissing his boyfriend's cheek. They had been talking about Jace and the things Jace made them both feel and want.

"I don't think active service is the right idea for him", mused Alec. "He's been a captive, forced to train, all his life. He deserves... peace. He's been showing a lot of interest in food. Oh, I think he finally understands that cats are not food. That thing had confused him _so much_ that he did a lot of research on food, what to eat and how to prepare it."

"Cooking, mh?", mused Magnus with a small smile. "I could talk to Taki. Maybe Jace could start working at the diner. It'll give him something else to do, aside from being at the loft all day. He'd make his own money, so he doesn't _have_ to live here. I'm sure he wants his own place."

"I like living here", hummed a sleepy voice.

Jace blinked sleepily as he looked up at the couple. Magnus offered him a gentle smile as he cupped the blonde's cheek. The merman immediately nuzzled into the comforting touch.

"That's good then, because you can stay here as long as you want", offered Magnus.

"So... for forever is okay too?", asked Jace boldly, slowly sitting up more.

"You can't be happy living in the guest-room forever", sighed Alec and shook his head. "I know you don't really want to think about your possibilities, but... you _have_ them now."

"Yeah, no, I get that", chucked Jace, slowly pulling himself up more and looking at them both. "I think the whole... working somewhere where I could learn how to really cook, that would be cool, but I want... I _want_ to stay with you. I like the two of you... a... a lot. I want to stay with you. And I... wasn't just thinking about... staying in the tank. I was thinking about... _your_... bedroom."

"Oh. Uhm. Oh", nodded Alec slowly. "I..."

"You make me feel safe", admitted Jace, looking first at Alec and Magnus. "And... I... I've never actually felt that way before. You helped me. And... I'm scared about the future. About Valentine escaping and coming for me, about not finding my place here. I'm _scared_."

"You don't have to be; not as long as I'm here", promised Magnus, carefully pulling Jace into a hug so the blonde was essentially sitting on Alec's lap, who cleared his throat pointedly. "Right. Boyfriend. Sorry. You don't have to be scared, not as long as _we_ are here."

"Better", grunted Alec, rolling his eyes at Magnus.

"That's it", stated Jace seriously, resting a hand against Magnus' chest and one against Alec's. "I'm scared, but... not when I'm with you. You guys freed me and gave me a home. You've been nothing but kind to me and I... I really like you both. I want to be with you both."

"That... sounds good, doesn't it, Alexander?", asked Magnus with a smile, cupping Jace's cheek.

"Sounds... perfect", nodded Alec, staring at Jace in awe.

Jace grinned and leaned in to kiss first Magnus and then Alec. Though his kiss with Alec was interrupted when the body in Alec's lap shifted. Magnus yelped a bit surprised when a fin slapped his arm. Jace laughed, arms around Alec's neck, holding on so he wouldn't fall off Alec's lap.

"Right. Time-limit to being a human", hummed Magnus, running his fingers over golden scales.

Jace shuddered a little, wrapping his tail around Magnus. The warlock marveled at the beauty of it. Golden scales and fins, strong and long. It fit Jace's personality though.

"Someone willing to carry me back to my tank?", asked Jace with a cheeky grin.

"...Somehow I have a feeling that you _do_ have better control of your shift and just enjoy being carried around", noted Alec dryly and highly unimpressed.

Jace blinked slowly, eyes large, looking at Magnus, who just snorted. "Come here, little merman."

Jace hummed very pleased as he was picked up bridal-style by the warlock. Alec just blinked slowly as he watched one of his boyfriends carry their other boyfriend off. This was nice. New and nice. He grinned as he got up to follow them to the tank. Once more, he found himself marveling at how beautiful Jace was as he swam. Though then he pulled Magnus along with him, laughing cheekily and Alec found himself half forced to join them. He smiled warmly as he swam with his boyfriends, Jace's tail gracing them both gently every now and again.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> If the first half seems familiar, I wrote that on tumblr on an... aesthetic proposal. I gotta stop being inspired by those to actually write them. ESPECIALLY when I was the one posing the aesthetic... -_-°°°
> 
> Come visit me at [takaraphoenix](https://takaraphoenix.tumblr.com/) for such nonsense and spontaneous fics or just to talk about pretty ships. ;)


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